


The Memories No One Remembers

by rimtusaw243



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Not A Happy Ending, Unbeta'd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22950478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rimtusaw243/pseuds/rimtusaw243
Summary: Ashe prepares to face the Imperial Army in Fhirdiad and reminisces about his past classmates.Crimson Flower Path with no students recruited.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	The Memories No One Remembers

“King Dimitri has fallen in battle! The kingdom’s army is retreating! Lady Rhea and her troops are returning to Fhirdiad!”

Those words before Lady Rhea had returned had frozen Ashe’s heart over. Once Lady Rhea returned without another Blue Lion in sight, Ashe’s worst fears had been realized, they really didn’t stand a chance. The Imperial army wouldn’t leave a single person alive if they had the chance. His former classmates had been slaughtered one by one, only him and Annette were left to protect the capital.

King Dimitri… Mercedes… Ingrid… Felix… Sylvain…...Dedue… all gone. And he didn’t have the chance to say goodbye.

Ashe was preparing himself, tightening his bowstring. The Imperial Army marched on, they would stop at nothing to slaughter anyone who opposed them. He knew they weren’t strong enough to stop them on his own but he had to try. The fate of Fodlan depended on it. On his honor as a Knight of Seiros, he would gladly give his life to protect Fhirdiad. His grip on his bow tightened and he was feeling more nauseous by the minute.

“Ashe…” a timid voice came through his door.

“Hello Annette, it’s open”. He heard a creak as Annette slid into his chamber. He turned and saw a shadow of the girl he once knew. Her eyes puffy and red and she looked like she hadn’t eaten in days… she probably hadn’t.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“See? Isn’t it fun to learn?!” Annette said in her chipper voice.

“Absolutely! You’re great at this. Maybe you should consider a career as a professor after you graduate!” Ashe replied lightly knocking his shoulder into hers “You’ve been a great help to me with my mathematics studies.”

Annette’s cheeks began to redden “Oh I don’t know about that! I haven’t thought too much about what’s next for me after I leave the Academy. I’ve been working with Hanneman outside of classes and I’ve been considering following his research, but I’m worried I might be a bit too clumsy to get anything significant done”

Ashe places his hand on her shoulder and gives her a small smile “That sounds perfect for you Annette. You’re remarkably smart, and super dedicated. Your positivity would keep all of your colleagues motivated, I’m sure you’d make amazing breakthroughs in whatever research you pursue. Even if you’re a bit clumsy, I’m sure it won’t impede you.”

“Aww thanks Ashe!” Annette’s teeth began to show through her wide grin. She knocks shoulders with him again, “You’ve got me motivated now! I’m gonna study so much harder! How about you? Are you still pursuing knighthood?”

“Absolutely. It’s always been my dream and I plan to follow it through.” Ashe puffed out his chest as he said it, then laughed at how ridiculous he felt. Annette giggled into her hand as well.

“Then let’s get back to work! We can’t have a Knight going around not knowing how to properly aim a ballista!”

“Right!”

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Ashe….”, Annette repeated in the same defeated voice looking down towards her feet, “They’re all gone…”

“I know.” He couldn’t keep looking at her like this, as noble as he tried to be. “I know Annette.”

“Mercie and I… we never made up” her eyes welling up with tears. Ashe didn’t know they were arguing. “We were fighting over something so STUPID back at the academy. I was just trying to protect her and we had a fight and then the war started and now I can never apologize to her!” her words sped up as she got through the sentence and her eyes began to tear up.

“Oh Annette…” Ashe walked forward and wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry.”

Annette sniffed. “I just want my best friend back. And now I’ll never see her again.”

“No matter what, Mercedes knows…knew that you cared for her, even if you were arguing. There is no doubt in my mind that when Mercedes passed, her last thoughts of you were happy ones. Memories of you giggling together eating sweets, rather than an argument.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Mercedes! What’s going on?” Ashe was having difficulty breathing through the black smoke erupting from the frying pan on top of the open flame.

“Oh Ashe! You’re here! I was just experimenting with spices like you taught me and it doesn’t appear to be going well at all.”

“You can say that again. Quick! Turn the stove off and carefully remove the pan from the heat.” Ashe said through his elbow, trying and failing to block out the smoke.

“Sorry… I guess I’m not really good at this still” her voice falling off in disappointment.

“Don’t worry Mercedes, we all have difficulties when we’re just starting out. I don’t know if everyone has made as many accidental smoke bombs as you however” Ashe said.

Mercedes lets out a small giggle “No I suppose not. I am truly special in that regard! Now can you walk me through which spices go with which foods again?”

“Of course Mercedes”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Poor Mercedes, Ashe thought to himself. She could have done so much good in the world if her life wasn’t cut short so cruelly. He hoped her final thoughts were peaceful and happy, she deserved no less.

“King Dimitri couldn’t stop her. Felix couldn’t stop her and he trained more than any of us. How are we supposed to do it? How do we hold off the Imperial Army when they’ve already killed so many people? I’m scared Ashe.”

“I am too, Annette. I am too. We just have to hope that our training, our studies, and your Heroes Relic are enough to prevail” his voice held steady despite how severely his hands were trembling.

Ashe was terrified. He pulled Annette into another hug. Whether it was to comfort her or himself he didn’t really know. If Felix’s master swordplay wasn’t able to stop Edelgard or Byleth, what hope did he have? Felix was so much stronger and never would have died for Faerghus given the choice.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Don’t die.”

Ashe turned away from his horse to realize Felix had gotten surprisingly close.

“You either Felix. You’re one of the strongest in Faerghus, if you fall I don’t think the rest of us stand a chance” Ashe said with a corner of his mouth moving into a half smile.

“I’m serious Ashe. Remember that your life is more important than some foolish code of chivalry. Don’t throw it away in some stupid act of heroism. Live to fight another day.”

With a nod in his direction, Felix was off into the night. Garreg Mach had fallen and they were all returning home to prepare for war.

Ashe stood quietly for a moment, thinking to himself. Felix is more chivalrous than he wants to admit. He smiles to himself and continues to pack his horse.

——————————————————————————————————————————

If only Felix could have followed his own advice. Ashe hoped he wouldn’t let Felix down, but the outlook wasn’t great.

They can hear a parade of armored footsteps begin running through the castle. “IT’S TIME. THE IMPERIAL ARMY MARCHES UPON FHIRDIAD. ALL KNIGHTS PREPARE TO DEFEND THE CAPITAL” a booming voice rings out. Ashe and Annette make eye contact for potentially the last time. Ashe gives a quick nod, grabs his bow, and begins to leave the room.

“Good luck Ashe” Annette says in a quiet, yet determined tone.

“You too Annette, let’s make it out of this alive” he replies unwavering, despite knowing the odds.

They march into the city to see Rhea making a final battle speech to the troops around her, “The goddess is watching over us! We will be successful in her name and defeat the traitors to the Church of Seiros!”

As Ashe moves toward his position within the city, he hears a horrific snarl and turns to see what appears to be a dragon where Rhea once stood. He feels his heart plummet in his chest. Just like the stories… except he was fighting alongside the beast rather than against it. Goddess have mercy on him. And now she stands where the king should stand. But he’s already fallen.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Your Highness… I can’t accept such a kind gift!” Ashe shouted while knocking on Dimitri’s door holding a comically large sack of sugar candies.

Dedue opened the door with a gentle smile on his face and stepped aside.

“Oh Ashe, what a pleasant surprise. I hope you find the candies to your liking, thank you again for your assistance with the tent.”

“It was no problem at all Your Highness and the sugar candies are my favorite, but I’m afraid I cannot accept such an expensive gift for such a small task. Look at how much candy is in here! It must have cost you a fortune!”

“And here I was thinking it was an insultingly cheap price for all the effort you put in… as I recall you were still working on the repair when I returned many hours later. And please Ashe, just call me Dimitri. As I’ve said before, we are classmates and equals while in Garreg Mach.”

Ashe felt his cheeks heat up “I’m sorry Your Highness but I can’t do that. It would be improper.”

Dimitri sighs “You and Dedue are the only ones who refuse.”

Ashe turns to Dedue who gives him another small smile, but does not interrupt the conversation. “Apologies Your Highne-... Dimitri. I’ll try if it makes you more comfortable. But I still can’t accept this gift! It almost weighs as much as I do”

Dimitri chuckles “Ah well I guess I did go a bit overboard with the sweets. Perhaps you can share them with the rest of the class as well? To help keep your teeth from rotting of course. I hear Annette and Mercedes are quite big fans of sweets and I think they just left for the library before you arrived.”

“Ah! What a great idea Your Highness! I’ll go find them right away!” Ashe says as he begins to run out of the room, maybe he’ll be able to catch Annette and Mercedes before they reach the library.

He hears Dimitri sigh in defeat and he’s out of earshot before Dimitri can correct him. Oops, guess using His Highness’ name will take some practice.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Dimitri would have been a better king than Edelgard could ever hope to be. He truly wanted the best for all of the people of Fodlan, noble or commoner, he treated all equally. He was beyond kind and compassionate and had Ashe’s utmost respect as a king and a friend. And now he’s dead. All due to Edelgard’s blood lust. And because of that, Ashe was now under the orders of a dragon. Real life is so much more complicated than his fairy tales.

Ashe took his position in the middle of the city, protected by walls, but still pretty exposed for someone who prefers to fight at range. He looks around and sees Annette further back in the city, her family’s relic glistening in the moonlight.

Flames erupt around him and seem to erupt through the entire city. There’s no way the imperial army has already arrived this deep into the city… how? Ashe turns and sees one of Catherine’s soldiers throwing a torch to the side and quickly scurrying away. He feels bile rise from his stomach, the civilians haven’t escaped yet, what in the world is going on?

Ashe takes a deep breath and tries to settle his stomach, he can’t afford to think of this right now.

——————————————————————————————————————————  
“Get out there buddy. Be valiant, help people.”

Even if Sylvain had manipulated this motto to pick up women, Ashe really could see the wisdom in it for his training. He did want to help people after all, just like Lord Lonato helped him and his siblings.

Ashe went around town volunteering and helping people with their everyday errands. He carried groceries for the older woman in the market, helped a young child repair his toy sword, and even managed to rescue one of the stray cats from a tree.

Around dusk, Ashe was walking through town back to Garreg Mach when he noticed Sylvain talking with a woman, as usual. Before he could finish rolling his eyes he noticed an angry man walking towards them down the road. Uh-oh.

Ashe could probably outpace the man to try and get Sylvain out without causing too much commotion.

He quickened his pace. “Sylvain! There you are!” he called out as he approached.

“Ashe? Kinda busy, can it wait?”

“No we have to get back to the Academy. Right. Now.” Ashe made his voice as sharp as he could while trying to remain natural but Sylvain was just giving him an odd look.

“Uh, why dude?”

Time to try another method. “Don’t tell me you forgot that we’re on dinner cleanup duty AGAIN? I covered for you last time and I’m not going to do it again!” He raised his voice and started flickering his eyes back and forth to the man who was red in the face and quickly approaching them and the woman they were talking to.

He could see the dots connecting in Sylvain’s head as he looked and saw the man.

“I’m so sorry Hillary, my dear friend Ashe here is right. I absolutely forgot about a prior responsibility I have tonight, can I reschedule our tea time? I’ll make it up to you with a nice dinner as well.”

Hillary pouted. “I guess. Don’t let it happen again alright? Can’t be too busy to see little old me” she said with a quick wink.

“Oh I wouldn’t dream of missing time with you twice. I’ll be in touch.”

He grabbed Ashe’s arm and they began their walk towards the Academy before the red-faced man got to them. Ashe turned to check and the man was in a heated discussion with Hillary whose forehead was scrunching in more frustration by the second.

“Thanks for the save buddy.” Sylvain said with a cheeky grin on his face throwing his arm around Ashe’s shoulder.

“Sylvain, you should really check if a woman is married before hitting on her” Ashe said as he shrugged him off.

“Hillary? She’s not married. That guy wasn’t her husband, it was her dad. Apparently he’s super religious and wants her to go off to some convent or something to serve the Goddess. Doesn’t want her interacting with men. How weird right?” Sylvain says with a shrug.

“Well, I’m not going to judge his beliefs but I do think it’s unfair that he’s forcing his choices onto her. He should let her choose her own path.”

“Exactly. And she’s choosing the path of Sylvain! But still, thanks. He looked like he was ready for a fight, and I can’t afford to fight anyone else in town or Professor Hanneman will have my head.” Sylvain gave Ashe a pat on his shoulder in thanks.

“No problem, like you said before, it doesn’t matter who it is, you help someone if they’re in need.”

“Sure I’ll take the credit for saying that. Does that mean I don’t owe you anything?” Sylvain said with another grin.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Ashe had to help the people of Fhirdiad, even if it cost him his life. No matter who it is, they need him right now with the Imperial Army invading and the city on fire, he needed to end this quickly. In Sylvain’s memory, he had to help them escape.

Ashe attempted to take a higher vantage point to get a better view of the battle field. He was safe for the time being, guarded by one of Rhea’s magic dolls. He didn’t want to question it, it wasn’t trying to kill him right now so it had to be an ally.

He climbed the wall and was able to see troops clashing in front of the wall. Edelgard was leading the Imperial troops with Byleth and Hubert by her side. The rest of the former Black Eagle house wasn’t on the front lines from what he could see.

Ashe made a quick scan of the battlefield and saw more Imperial troops storming the east side of the city, heading straight towards Catherine. It’s their funeral. She could probably take out over half the army alone before she fell. At least Ashe hoped she could.

Ashe dropped back down to the ground and readied his bow, waiting for the former professor to break through the defensive walls along with the current Emperor. He would be ready. But it sure would be easier if he had studied flying like he was planning before Edelgard declared war.

——————————————————————————————————————————  
“Ingrid, may I ask a favor?” Ashe approached eyes wide and hopeful.  
“Oh Ashe, hello. Yes, what do you need?” Ingrid gave a small smile, ushering him on.

“Would you teach me the proper technique to fly? A knight needs his noble steed, and watching you soar through the air with such grace is inspiring Ingrid. I would be honored if you could show me your technique.” Ashe had been thinking about getting a mount for sometime. He had spoken to Hanneman about it, but Hanneman’s specialty was horseback riding. Horses were definitely noble, but Ashe wanted a bird’s eye view. Being able to fire a bow with a height advantage would prove to make him a formidable foe.

“Oh I’m not sure if I’ll be much help Ashe, sorry. I’ve only trained on pegasi, and pegasi don’t take well to men. You’d have to train on a wyvern and they are much different creatures.” Ingrid looked apologetic.

“Oh I see, not a problem Ingrid. Sorry to bother you”, Ashe began to walk away feeling a bit dejected. He could still be a knight on horseback he supposes, it just wouldn’t be as exciting.

“Wait! Have you spoken to Hanneman about your interest?” Ingrid took a few steps to catch back up. “I’m sure he can set you on the right path if you’re sure you want to start flying. Once you get the basics on a wyvern down, I can train with you in the skies and then I’m sure we will both improve!”

“I did speak to Hanneman briefly, but he said his specialty is in horses so he wouldn’t be much help I’m afraid.”

“Let’s speak to Professor Manuela then. I’ve heard she starred in an opera where there was a song with wyvern choreography, I’m sure she’ll be willing to teach you the basics!”

“Oh wonderful! Thank you Ingrid. I’m looking forward to our sky drills together. We’ll both make such excellent knights with our trusty steeds.” Ashe was grinning from ear to ear and apparently it was contagious, as Ingrid’s smile rivaled his own.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Ashe shook his head to himself. No use in thinking about it now, Manuela was thrilled to have an excuse to break out her old wyvern routine and teach him, but Edelgard stormed Garreg Mach before their first scheduled lesson. Ingrid died a true knight’s death, defending her homeland. She could finally be with her deceased fiance in the afterlife, both donning badges of honor, having pride in their chivalry. Ashe was proud of her.

His time for battle was rapidly approaching as he watched the doll that was defending the inner city fall in a wave of dark magic. A whip slayed the soldier standing 100 feet in front of him. Ashe drew his bow as he prepared.

“Ashe. Drop your weapon. Please” a familiar, calming voice approached him.

“Ashe stay strong!” he heard Gilbert call out over the clang of battle. Ashe looked across the way and saw Edelgard and Gilbert’s axes crossing, each trying to overpower the other.

Ashe quickly fired off a shot towards Byleth and missed.

“Don’t look at me that way, you’ll throw off my aim!” He was trying to throw the professor off as much as he was trying to calm himself down. He needed to focus, his only chance at survival was taking any opportunity he could make for himself to get a quick, clean kill.

“I know you’re a good person Ashe. I saw it when you paid for the stolen book. I saw it in the way you helped all the students of your class and all the civilians in the city adjacent to Garreg Mach. You don’t have to die here. Please listen to me.” Byleth was pleading.

“Did you make the same offer to the others? Or have you just finally spilled enough blood to make you regret your path professor? I bet it’s a trick. No one as cruel as Edelgard would allow for such mercy”. He glanced over right as Edelgard cleaved through Gilbert’s neck. May the Goddess grant him peace. He hopes Annette is still alive.

“I asked Mercedes to surrender as well. She refused. She was my only other hope for reduced bloodshed, the others would never hear my words.” Byleth conveniently ignored the jab at Edelgard, interesting.

“Professor, there’s no need to justify our cause so someone who fights for the Immaculate One of his own free will. He has chosen his path. As did Dimitri, and all of the others. They are choosing to die, even going as far as to change into beasts to try and stop us.” Edelgard had joined Byleth in front of Ashe now. 2 versus 1, both wielding Heroes’ Relics. Ashe’s odds kept getting worse and worse.

“What do you mean changing themselves into beasts?” Ashe had to buy time. He hoped that the civilians were finding ways to evacuate. This was not their battle.

“Ashe...”, Byleth began, “I’m sorry. Dedue transformed into a beast to try and protect Dimitri. We had no choice but to kill him”.

Ashe’s heart went cold. Dedue’s final stand was to give up his humanity to try and protect Faerghus, the country that destroyed his people. Dedue’s sacrifice would’ve made an excellent story, if only it had succeeded. He was an inspiration. Ashe knew for sure he was going to die here, it wouldn’t be as noble or as epic as Dedue’s, but they’re both dying for the same cause. And that fact brings Ashe peace as he faces his eventual killers.

——————————————————————————————————————————  
“Being poor and being from Duscur are two different things” Dedue had said, revealing no trace of emotions in his eyes.

Ashe felt awful for what Dedue had to go through. “Oh, I know! But we can still be friends, can’t we?”  
Ashe saw a twitch of his mouth as Dedue called him peculiar. He made Dedue happy, and so that made him happy to be peculiar. Dedue deserved to be happy.

Dedue very rarely protested time spent together after that interaction. They cooked together often, gardened together occasionally, and Ashe even helped Dedue train with a bow to give him more options at a range due to his mobility issues in armor.

“Hold it like this?” Dedue asked taking aim.

“Straighten your elbow, holding it like that will make the arrow go crooked, it could miss and hit a close by ally instead” Ashe moved forward to push Dedue’s elbow closer to his side. “Just like this.”

“I see.” Dedue said holding the stance for just a second longer. He fired the arrow and hit the target slightly above dead center,

“Nice shot Dedue!” Ashe’s voice genuinely excited.

“I managed it with your assistance. You deserve the praise, not me.”

“Dedue, it was a good shot. Your stance was nearly perfect there, especially for a beginner. I just tweaked you a little bit. Now try to mimic it without me adjusting you” Ashe instructed.

Dedue did as told and took another shot, hitting the very right edge of the target. “My apologies.”

“It’s fine Dedue. You’ve been working hard today, let’s take a break and go make some dinner, I have a recipe for boar I’ve been meaning to make for you.”

“For me?” Dedue’s eyes widened. Ashe really enjoyed surprising Dedue.

“Of course! You deserve it after all the hard work you’ve been putting into your training, I found something in the market that I’d really like to try to prepare and I was hoping you’d taste it.” Ashe began walking to the kitchen.

“I do not deserve such kindness, first you train me in archery, and now you cook for me? I must ask you to reconsider and let me cook for you instead. It is the least I could do.”

“Oh come on Dedue, we’re friends, let me cook for you. It’s also my pleasure to help you with your archery, as I am the resident expert in our house”. Ashe says with a playful wink.

“Okay.” Dedue says with a small smile. He walks consistently a few paces behind and Ashe frowns. “Dedue, you know you don’t need to walk so far behind right? You can walk next to me.”  
Dedue doesn't reply to that, but does quicken his pace to catch up to Ashe as they arrive in the Dining Hall. 

Ashe enters the kitchen area with Dedue following behind and Ashe begins to prepare his dish, slicing and seasoning the pork before cooking.

“Ah, I recognize these spices. They are of Duscur”, Dedue states with a small smile on his face.

“Shhh! Don’t ruin the surprise! Close your eyes!” Ashe waves his arms in front of Dedue’s face to stop him from peeking. Dedue lets a chuckle slip out. Ashe grins and stops waving his hands “yeah there was a foreign merchant in the square today, she had a bunch of interesting spices. She said some were packaged in Duscur, so I grabbed a few to try out. I asked her what each spice was good for seasoning and she gave me some recommendations. Hopefully she actually knew what she was talking about!”

“Typically these spices are used with fish, not pork.”

Ashe’s face fell immediately. “Dang. Sorry Dedue. I tried to do something nice and I messed it up. Can’t be any worse than Annette or Mercedes’ cooking though right?” he gives a shy smile over to Dedue.

Dedue reaches out and gently grabs Ashe’s arm. “You misunderstand. Just because a spice is typically used for one dish does not mean it can not be used in another. Spices are versatile and I am sure it will also be delicious with pork. And you are correct, this will be much better than Annette or Mercedes’ dishes”, Dedue flashes a smile at Ashe. “I truly appreciate this. It is a very kind gesture”.

“Of course Dedue. It’s my honor to try and impress you with your own cuisine”.

“Impress me?” Dedue's face is back to unreadable.

Ashe feels he’s fingers start tapping the table a bit sporadically. “Yeah of course. Gotta show you what I can do before you teach me to cook Duscur food properly, right?” Ashe gives a quick grin and returns to his pork.

The pork turns out decently. Ashe is impressed with how flavorful the spices are.

“The spice flavor was a bit muted, pork is a tougher meat than fish and needs a stronger spice. Perhaps you could fry the spices before applying if you use them for pork again in the future, to bring the flavor out more?” Dedue then took a second to ponder. And Ashe felt a pit in his stomach thinking he ruined the dish. “It was an interesting flavor combination, one I am not used to.” Dedue gave a small smile towards Ashe, “I enjoyed it. With some small modifications I think it could be a truly excellent dish. Thank you Ashe”.

Ashe was over the moon. “No thank you Dedue, for the kind words. And the advice. I’m glad you enjoyed the meal. I hope to cook again with you soon Dedue.”

“As do I Ashe. I will bring some of my own spices next time to show you some more traditional combinations. Until next time.”

“Until next time.” Dedue placed his hand on Ashe’s shoulder and squeezed it gently before walking off towards the library likely to meet up with Dimitri. Ashe felt butterflies in his stomach and he wasn’t quite sure why, but he was smiling all through his evening chores and all the way back to his room.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Dedue… A noble knight until the end, even if he served the King and not necessarily the country. Dedue had deserved better. A good man treated like garbage due to the country he was born in. Dedue had died trying to protect those who insulted him and his people. Dedue deserved so much better. Ashe thought they would have all the time in the world to cook, garden, talk, and learn about each other throughout their lives. What a fool he’d been.

“Of course you had no choice. What choice is there for the Imperial Army besides bloodshed” Ashe said, shaking his head.

“So Edelgard,” Ashe’s tone dripping with venom “have you satisfied your thirst for blood yet? Or will you not be satisfied until all of Fodlan is red with the blood of the innocent?” He needed the opportunity to make a clean shot. Or at least an opening, even if it wasn’t clean.

“I don’t expect you to understand. I do not wish for bloodshed, but I am willing to shed blood to make this world a better place. I don’t expect anyone who supports the church's secrets to understand the pain they’ve caused. Now move aside, I have no business with you, I only require the death of the Immaculate One.”

She was right. Ashe wasn’t morally superior. They were both just following their ideals. But he couldn’t give up even if he was just allowed his escape. Not after his friends had given up their lives to protect these lands. Not while there are so many civilians left in Fhirdiad. He needed to give them more time.

“You’re right. I had no idea Rhea could transform into a monster like that. But from where I’m standing, you’re the cause of this war Edelgard, and you’re not innocent Byleth. So as long as I kill both of you, Rhea can be dealt with next. And then maybe we can bring peace back to Fodlan and right all the wrongs you’ve done.” Ashe raises his bow.

Before he can even draw an arrow he feels a sharp pain in his gut. Ouch. Ashe looks down and sees an axe lodged in his stomach. He falls to his knees and his vision begins to fade in and out. “I tried to do the right thing. I’m sorry everyone” he muttered under his breath.

Byleth kneels beside him as he heard the sound of Edelgards armor moving past him, not paying him a second thought. Some fight he put up. He couldn’t even get a shot off.

“Ashe. I’m sorry it had to be this way, I truly am.”

“Maybe in another life... you won’t be... so cruel... Professor.” between gasps of breath, one last jab. Keep him occupied, try to throw him off his game. Maybe Annette can still survive this, if she’s not already dead.

“I was hoping you would understand. Goodbye Ashe.” Byleth walks further into Fhirdiad, leaving Ashe to die alone.

After all of his talk of being a knight, Ashe gets exactly what he wanted. He’s going to die defending his country. So why does he feel so empty?

Ashe’s vision fades to black and his breathing slows to a stop.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this fic! It's definitely on the sadder side, but it isn't really a path I've seen explored as much yet.
> 
> My first 2 playthroughs were Blue Lions, then Crimson Flower without recruiting anyone to see both sides of the war. I was kind of interested in viewing the war from the Blue Lions side, assuming that Byleth sides with Edelgard so I wanted to write Ashe's perspective of the final battle. 
> 
> This story assumes that the Blue Lions go somewhere between C and B level supports with each other during their time at Garreg Mach and I tried to base Ashe's memories on those where I could, obviously taking some liberties and if the memories didn't fit, creating new scenes. I also assume that Ashe and Byleth interacted a bit, probably around C support level.


End file.
